Royal Enfields From India, Anyone Had One? Any Good?

You may be on the button there, I'm not actively looking at the moment. There was on locally with a £2700 price on it in someone's front yard last March but I wasn't interested in buying another bike then. I didn't check it out and the bike wasn't wearing it's full adventure kit either.

 

I'm interested in them as well so keep an eye on what's available.
It's a shame they made the Himalayan in such a small capacity.
It needs to be 500cc I think ....why on earth they made it 410 is beyond me.

 

My thinking on the 790 Bonnie was that, with a 360 degree firing pattern it sort of has a thumperlike power delivery, is quite capable of rolling reasonably slowly in fairly high gears, should offer a reasonable amount of torque and, as I said, if it all goes wrong then it's a pile of spares.

The one review of the Mash 'Dirtstar' had the bike break down (supposedly a dodgy rectifier) during the test ride and the fact that there is one for sale on Fleabay with less than nine hundred miles on it, said to be a Trade-on and the asking price is £1500 down on the list price. Depreciation like that is a bit worrying when compared to Enfield and particularly compared to Triumphs.

Apart from the pre-2010 enfields on ebay all of them seem to not fall below around £3000, including the Himalayans but, again, I find it worrying that there are Enfield Himalayans and Classic Bullets on there that have three, four, or more owners and a thousand miles on the clock. It does seem like there is a buzz around Enfields at the moment and they are shifting out of the showrooms but I find it a little concerning that there are very few with even 10,000 miles on the clock for sale. Do they not usually make it that far?

 

I think Enfield's are often bought by folks with rose tinted spectacles who then don't like their experience of the 1950's after all.
The Himalayas are painfully slow on the road for a modern overhead cam bike and I wonder if people might get frustrated with them if they're buying for road use.

 

Excepting the new twins, the single cylinder machine look to me to be Hand Made....ie. they had no tools when making ‘em!
Ken.

 

Nonsense ....hammers and hacksaw marks are very much in evidence.

 

I do seem to recall seeing a piece of footage many years ago (mid nineties?) of the manufacture of Royal Enfield's in India and they were very much hand made. As in guys sitting on the ground battering bits with a hammer but I had hoped that in the last thirty years things might have modernised somewhat.

 

this should help Marty, things have moved on the old ones where a different breed

 

I'm relieved to see that large hammers are indeed used freely.
Metric ones though, not like the old days.

 

Aye mate and metric adjustable's, precise engineering these day's

 

Well I think all that’s needed is a little nudge to get you to sign on the dotted line for an Enfield... this’ll help, ha ha

It’s clearly an Enfield for you
The Trials or the RAF blue
In Scotland or Wales
You can ride all the trails
And if you love it we’ll all buy one too!

Go on Marty, we all want you get one

 

I believe they now have Metric degrees on their angle gauges for when torquing bolts etc.
Ken.
Ps. Bet a few will have to google ‘Angle Gauge for torquing’

 

Seriously, there are some very clever ideas and improvisations carried out with minimal equipment and tools by poor people in poor areas in the world.
Ken.

 

Oh I agree @Kenbro although, sadly, it doesn't neccessarily mean that the final product is of a very high standard..... I play the bagpipes and a few years ago I was sent a promotional video from a major bagpipe maker in Pakistan. Bear in mind that this was a video officially sanctioned by the management of the company when I tell you that it contained footage of the 'factory' where men were sitting on the bare earth floor hacking away at wood in a most primitive fashion with the most of basic tools. Given that origin it is a wonder that they have managed to flood Fleabay with their products but, on the downside the bagpipes, while looking fairly decent on initial inspection by some young hopeful, they are made from soft wood dyed black, and are, without a lot of work and knowhow, entirely unplayable, suitable only for hanging on a wall.

 

"Entirely unplayable, suitable only for hanging on a wall"
Some of my English friends would maintain that to be true of all bagpipes.
They take the view that a Gentleman is someone who can play the bagpipes.....and doesn't.
Me, I'm a Scot.
It's God's own music.

 

So I’ve had a couple drinks this evening and am fantasising the thread has shifted to the most suitable bike for a bit of off roading whilst playing bagpipes... perhaps a few more drinks

 

Aye, sounds like you've had nearly enough yet.

 

Not

 

OK I'm still searching but boy they are thin on the ground in the hunting grounds I am searching - ebay, Gumtree, Autotrader, MCN and Facebook Marketplace. I am looking for a bike that has been run in, maybe a couple of thousand miles but in good nick as I prefer to lose a few miles from new, trust someone else to have the fun of running it in and take a dive on the new bike depreciation.

Anyone know other good places online to hunt for bikes like Enfields?

 

Bike was only launched in 2018 and is a bloody good package, so I'm not surprised you are having trouble finding one. I'm guessing most owners are holding on to theirs...